Prophetic voices and events - Shop local with the 99%

One of the reason that the 1% keeps getting richer is because we give our money to them. Do the Waltons really need more of our business? How wealthy can one family be? How about if we shopped local instead of big box stores, and farmer's markets instead of international produce marketers.

Plenty of studies have been done to show that shopping local keeps money in local economies and local communities are enriched.

Might you spend a couple of bucks more locally? Yes, but it comes back to you in multiple ways as there is more money in your local economy rather than on some billionaires yacht in the Mediterranean.

For more click here.

Prophetic voices and events - Time banking

The dots got connected when the stewardship drive at our church asked for a yearly pledge of time, talent, and money. You notice that the money comes last. Money is taxable and time and talent is not. How about if beyond church people were able to share time and talent and go off the grid of the taxation system? The Cowry Collectve have done that - for more click here.

Prophetic voices and events - Prosperity now

The Prosperity Now Scorecard is a comprehensive resource for data on household financial health and policy recommendations to help put everyone in our country on a path to prosperity.

Check it out by clicking here.

Prophetic voices and events

The bail system in the U.S. is a travesty of justice. Poverty is not a crime.

Prophetic voices and events - Black mothers die at much higher rates than white women

From Democracy Now on 01/11/18

ANNIE WALDMAN: Yeah, well, first I want to say thank you so much for having me here. It’s an honor to speak about this work.

 And secondly, you know, when I heard the news of Erica Garner’s death, it was horrifying. It’s incredibly—we, at ProPublica, have spoken to hundreds of women who—and families of mothers who have died in childbirth. And it’s a devastating thing and a heartbreaking thing to lose a mother, a new mother, in childbirth. And in these conversations, the most important thing that seems to come up with African-American women or with white women or women of other races is that it’s an injustice. And it’s injustice because in the United States we have some of the highest rates of maternal death across the board. And most of this is driven by the deaths of black mothers.

As we heard in what Shannon was saying earlier, in New York City alone, women are—black women are 12 times more likely to die in childbirth than white women. This is an injustice—an injustice that can be stopped.

 NERMEEN SHAIKH: Well, in your piece, as well, or in the ProPublica investigation, I mean, there are some extremely, in addition to what you cited, distressing statistics, that a black woman is 22 percent more likely to die from heart disease than a white women, 71 percent more likely to perish from cervical cancer, but 243 percent more likely to die from pregnancy or childbirth-related causes. The investigation also cites the World Health Organization saying that black expectant and new mothers in the U.S. die at about the same rate as women in countries such as Mexico and Uzbekistan.


 

For more from ProPubica click here.

For more from Democracy Now! click here.

 Four women by Nina Simone
 

Prophetic voices and events - UUA President Rev. Susan Gray pledges UUA's support for the Poor People's Campaign

On December 4, 2018, Rev. Susan Frederick Gray, UUA President, announced the UUA’s full participation in the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival at a press conference with Rev. William J. Barber, Rev. Liz Theoharis, and other faith leaders.

Prophetic voices and events - Poor People's Campaign 2018

Prophetic Voices and events - All Soul's Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma

One of the most exciting Unitarian Universalist churches in the United States is All Soul's in Tulsa Oklahoma. Their staff and preaching is wonderful and easily accessible on line. Who would have guessed that one of the brighest lights in the denomiation would be coming from Tulsa?

There are many other great UU churches. Singling any one out is not meant to be a disservice to the others. Sharing the lights of all UU churches can set the country and the world ablaze with inclusion and Love.

Check out one of the staff's sermons at All Soul's on 12/17/17 at a combined service with Rev. Barbara Prose, Bishop Carlton Pearson, and Rev. Dr. Marlin Lavanhar.

Prophetic voices and events - Krista Tippett, On Being.

The philosophical prophet is a person who can read the signs of the times. Bob Dylan wrote a great lyric, "You don't need to be a weatherman to know which way the wind blows." There are people who can connect the dots, understand systems, are in touch with the unconscious.

The quality that enables philosophical prophecy is wisdom. Wisdom is based on self knowledge and making the unconscious conscious. Is there a good example of a contemporary philosophical prophet? There are many people who come to mind: Christopher Hedges, Michel Foucault, Noam Chomsky, Kurt Vonnegut, Bruce Cockburn, Bob Dylan, Naomi Klein, Amy Goodman, Rachel Carson, Barbara Lee, Angela Davis, Krista Tippet, and Tami Simon.

Krista Tippett writes in the introduction to her book, Becoming Wise, "This daunting and wondrous century is throwing open basic questions the twentieth century thought it had answered. Our questions are intimate and civilizational all at once - definitions of when life begins and when death happens; the meaning of marriage and family and identity; of our relationship to the natural world; of our relationship to technology and our relationship through technology." p.2

Krista Tippett's book, podcast, and web site are well worth exploring.

Prophetic voices and events - Dave Eggers, The Circle

Reading literature is sometimes like looking into a mirror. We read the story and we see ourselves in it. The Circle by Dave Eggers left me chilled. Is a story about a 20 something female who gets a job at a tech company like Google. It is called The Circle and is more like a cult.

So much of this young woman's involvement as a customer service rep for this company sent chills up my spine not so much about the world we are creating for ourselves, but the world we are in already. Now that we learn about the Russians use of social media to meddle in our National election this story is even more prophetic.

With a prophetic mindset reading this novel becomes a prophetic novel of the moral dilemmas we are facing.

Prophetic voices and events - Resignations of Agnew then Nixon

On January 9, 1913, Richard M. Nixon, was born in Yorba Linda, California. His political career and Presidency is better known for scandal, corruption, and infamy as he was forced to resign on August 9, 1974 rather than be impeached over the Watergate scandal. His vice president, Spiro Agnew, also resigned due to corruption offenses earlier in the administration's tenure on 10/10/73 after being elected with Nixon to a second term.

Americans who are prone to "exceptionalism" often overlook their own history which is littered with corrupt leaders who they elected to office and then were negatively impacted by their elected leaders mistakes and incompetence.

The culmination of voter ignorance and imperviousness has been their election of Donald Trump to be President of of the United States. Voter ignorance and poor choices should give pause to those who place too much faith in electoral democracies.

Prophetic voices and events - Steve Almond's "Against football"

Does American football cause brain damage in its players? Yes. Concussions are common.  It inflicts what medically is called "chronic traumatic encephalopothy( CTE).

There is big money in it for players and NFL team owners, advertisers, gambling promoters, etc.

Is this a moral activity? Is it the modern form of gladiatorial combat from the Roman days. Is this our modern form of "bread and circuses?"

Steve Almond and others are modern day prophets warning us of the dangers of this sport not only to the players but to the moral sensitivities of the audience who egg the players on and provide the incentives for them to engage in this destructive activity.

Do the benefits of football culture outweigh the costs?

Prophetic voices and events - Black Mamas bail out

https://www.democracynow.org/2017/5/12/on_black_mamas_bail_out_day

For more click here

Prophetic voices and events - Feast of Epiphany

Today, January 7, 2018, is the Epiphany. For much of the Christian church it is a day of gift giving because it is the day the Three Kings wound up in Bethlehem with their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

It is usually thought of as the 12th day after the birth of Jesus. Some churches celebrate it the first Sunday after the 12th day of Christmas. This year, in the Roman Catholic church, Epiphany Sunday, is celebrated today.

Epiphany is a feast that celebrates internationalism. We are reminded that Jesus came for all people from all nations and all classes. This meaning of the feast is something that is badly needed in our current values of xenophobia and "me first" trumpeted by Trumpism in the U.S.

Prophetic voices and events - James Hansen, Climate change

The love of the interdependent web make Unitarian Universalists more than most citizens strive to improve the environment of our Mother Earth.

Prophetic voices and events - Ivan Illich - Deschooling Society

Ivan Illich came to fame with his book Deschooling Society published in 1971.

The book that brought Ivan Illich to public attention was Deschooling Society (1971), a radical critical discourse on education as practised in "modern" economies. Giving examples of what he regards as the ineffectual nature of institutionalized education, Illich posited self-directed education, supported by intentional social relations, in fluid informal arrangements:

Way before his time, Ivan Illich, envisioned homeschooling and learning networks on the internet.

There is increasing dissatisfaction with government schooling and the rise of alternative educational resources is in ascendance. For more check out the Alternative Education Resource Organization (AERO).. 

 

Prophetic voices and events - Restorative Justice

Restorative justice is a whole new way of doing justice. Restorative justice is contrasted with retributive justice and works much better to heal us in our society. Retributive justice often just brings more pain and dysfunction.

Learn more and advocate for changes in our justice system. We now have better ways of doing justice but entrenched systems don't change unless they are encouraged to do so. Raise your prophetic voice asking for better justice practices in your community.

Prophetic voices and events - St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

Today, January 4, is the feast day of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton who died in 1921 at the age of 46. She is the first native born American to be canonized a saint in the Roman Catholic Church.




For more click here.

Prophetic voices and events Dr. Lynn Weaver

Dr. Lynn Weaver was part of a small group of black teens who integrated an all-white high school in Tennessee in 1964. He remembers what it was like to play on the school's football team — and the racism he faced on, and off, the field.




Editor's note:

We would like to think that after 54 years we have come a long way in the United States in race relations and bigotry until you consider what's going on with the kneeling during the National Anthem with players like Colin Kaepernick.

White supremacy, which is a part of Trumpism, shows its ugly head still in 2017 when President Donald Trump calls upon the NFL to fire such players who are protesting the police brutality towards African Amerians.

The courageous NFL players deserve our respect and support and yet they are celebrities. We should not forget the every day people, who over the years at great personal risk up to and including death, advocated for equality, justice, and compassion such as Dr. Lynn Weaver and his dad.

Prophetic voices and events - fathers

At StoryCorps, we give friends and family the chance to sit down together and ask questions they’ve always wanted to ask, no matter how outlandish. Brothers Isaiah and Josiah made the most of that opportunity with their dad, Kevin.

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Editor's note;

Prophetic voices and events are not only famous people but every day people going about their business of living their daily lives, raising their families, contributing to their communities. Often their activities go unnoticed, unacknowledged, and taken for granted. For his sons, Isaiah and Josiah, Kevin is a very prophetic voice and presence. So powerful, in fact, that one of the boys says he would like to be more like his dad.